Battle over groundwater could reach new depths

The battle over valuable groundwater in the fertile Kansas River valley is about to reach new depths.

Crews are expected to begin drilling two test wells on property between Lawrence and Eudora within the next three weeks, an attorney for Wholesale Water District No. 25 said Monday.

The test wells are the first step in the district securing water rights for more than 1 billion gallons of water that would be shipped to rural homes in parts of Douglas, Franklin, Osage and Shawnee counties.

Gary Hanson, a Topeka attorney, said the wholesale water district is trying to plan for the next 40 to 50 years to ensure that its member area water districts have enough water to supply households for the longterm.

“The water district really is just trying to be responsible, and it has a lot of people it has to be responsible to,” said Hanson, who said the wholesale district serves smaller rural water districts that provide water to a growing population of about 10,000 people.

Landowners in the area, however, have fought the district’s efforts. The water district doesn’t have landowner permission to drill the test wells, but rather is using eminent domain to secure an easement to do the drilling.

“I’m real concerned about it,” said Don Westheffer, who owns one of the two tracts where drilling is set to happen. “This deal is a lot bigger than me. It could really hurt the whole valley.”

Farmers in the area have contended the groundwater should be used for new agricultural purposes, such as larger fruit and vegetable farming operations that would need increased irrigation.

But leaders of the wholesale water district – which is made up of Douglas County Rural Water Districts No. 5 and No. 2 and Osage County Rural Water District No. 5 – stressed they weren’t trying to take anyone’s existing water right. Instead, they’re trying to claim water rights that have set unused for decades.

The Kansas Supreme Court ultimately may settle the issue. The court has agreed to hear a lawsuit regarding the use of eminent domain related to securing water rights. Landowners in the area believed they had obtained a temporary injunction stopping any test drilling until the Supreme Court heard the issue. But on Friday, Douglas County District Court Judge Robert Fairchild clarified the terms of the injunction, leaving open the possibility that test wells could be drilled on two tracts within the valley.

On Monday, hope also was rising on both sides that Lawrence City Hall may help solve the water issue. Both officials with the city and with Rural Water District No. 5 confirmed that they are getting closer to working out a new contract for the city of Lawrence to sell Rural Water District No. 5 excess water.

For decades, the city of Lawrence has had a contract to treat water that is owned by RWD No. 5. But the city has not ever agreed to sell RWD No. 5 water from the city’s water supply.

But Toni Ramirez Wheeler, the city’s director of legal services, said the draft agreement includes a provision that would allow the city to sell excess water to the district.

Importantly, the draft agreement would allow RWD No. 5 to install as many new water meters as it deems necessary. Currently, the city contract limits the number of water meters the district can install in a given year. That in the past has created waiting lists.

Hanson, who also serves as an attorney for RWD No. 5, said a new agreement with the city could have an impact on whether the wholesale water district would continue on with the Kaw Valley project, but he stopped short of saying a new contract would cause the district to abandon the plan.

Westheffer said he’s keeping an eye on the negotiations with the city because he believes the restrictions the city has placed on RWD No. 5 is a major reason the new wholesale district is aggressively seeking new water sources.